Threshold: A Memoir of Crossing Through the Terrain of Loss - Softcover

Deborah Cummins

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798896360629

Publisher: She Writes Press, 2026

Synopsis

In 2007, Deborah Cummins 'was still a stranger to death.' That is, until she was forced to come to terms with the anticipatory grief following the news of her sibling's declining health. In an attempt to make sense of her brother's death while he's still alive, Deborah confronts hidden truths that were, perhaps, not so hidden in retrospect. Before she's able to fully grasp her brother's worsening condition, the health of Deborah's mother begins to depreciate as well due to the complications of a recent surgery and the heartbreak of her son's condition. After the death of her brother at only forty-five years old, her mother's death shortly follows and Debroah must navigate grief compounded. Spanning the country from a small town in Maine to the sprawling metropolises of Chicago and Phoenix, Cummins skillfully examines familial relationships between child, parent, and siblings, providing evocative portraits of each.

About this title

About the Author

Deborah Cummins authored three poetry collections and a collection of linked essays, one of which was listed as Notable in Best American Essays 2013. She received her MFA in creative writing, and her work has appeared in eight anthologies and more than 60 journals, including Yale Review, Gettysburg Review, Orion, Fourth Genre, and New England Review. From 2001 to 2005, she was the Board Chair of the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, and more recently, from 2016 to 2023, she served as Board President of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. In 2014, Deborah and her husband, Bob, relocated from Chicago to Maine, dividing their time between Portland and Deer Isle. She passed away in the summer of 2023.

Edition details

• Publisher: She Writes Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798896360629
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256